4-fold hike in ICMR's budgetary allowance in 10 years: Mansukh Mandaviya

The ICMR's budgetary allowance has seen a four-fold hike in the last 10 years, showcasing the government's commitment towards health research, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday.

Mandaviya chaired the Governing Council Meeting of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) here on Saturday. The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar.

It was convened to engage in discussions on the ICMR's recent contributions, explore the initiatives spearheaded by the council, and outline the strategic roadmap for the future of medical research, a health ministry statement said.

Mandaviya lauded ICMR's key advancements and initiatives propelling medical research and development in the country.

He emphasised that the government's commitment coupled with the ICMR's relentless efforts, will position India on the global stage as a leader in medical research and development, the statement said.

The Union health minister expressed satisfaction with the growth being witnessed by ICMR's research advancements and urged the council to keep adapting to changing times for India to meet global expectations in medical innovation.

He also praised the recently launched MedTech Mitra initiative, which aims to support the private sector with development of affordable indigenous medical devices.

He stressed leveraging traditional knowledge through a collaboration of the ICMR-DBT-AYUSH and Institutions of National Importance, emphasising the critical importance of partnerships between government and private sector; and supported the entrepreneurship policy for academic and research institutions.

Speaking about the upcoming initiatives of the ICMR, Dr Rajiv Bahl, Director General of the council highlighted the 'First in the World Challenge', a unique initiative that aims to develop biomedical products on knowledge.

He said, "The challenge will fund Indian Scientists with excellent ideas to conduct high-risk and high-reward research. Ideas would be funded through an innovative selection mechanism and this will help build the confidence of Indian biomedical researchers."

In the meeting, it was highlighted that the government has ensured a four-fold increase in its investment in medical research and development over the last decade.

Through the recently launched National Health Research Programme, a novel initiative to conduct solution-oriented mission mode research in 12 priority areas, the ICMR has extended their coverage to over 100 districts nationwide.

The ICMR initiated interdepartmental collaboration with prominent institutions such as NITI Aayog, CDSCO, CSIR, IITs, DBT, NIPERs, ICAR, DWCD and others. This has resulted in joint initiatives, including the National One Health Mission, AYUSH-ICMR trials, AcSIR-ICMR Faculty of Medical Research, Paalna Scheme and ICMR-National Cancer Grid Clinical trials for various cancers.

Towards nurturing the innovation ecosystem of our country, the ICMR established centres of excellence at 7 IITs for product development and 5 ICMR-centres for Advanced Research (CAR) dedicated to benchtop testing, pre-clinical and clinical evaluation, and validation.

This initiative aims to bolster the Make in India MedTech sector while promoting AI-based health solutions.

Additionally, the MedTech Mitra initiative, led by ICMR under the guidance of NITI Aayog and in partnership with Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), is set to provide crucial support to innovators, facilitating the development of affordable and accessible indigenous medical devices through strategic handholding, clinical evaluation, regulatory facilitation, and product uptake guidance, with further enhancements underway.

Also in coherence with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mission recruitment and Rozgar Mela initiatives, ICMR has successfully filled over 1,200 vacancies in the Scientific, Technical, and administrative cadres within the last year, the statement said.